Outlet-box.



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"UNITED sTAfg'rss -f PATENT essieu.

WILLIAM H. COLGAN, OFNEWTON, MASSCHUSETTS.

' oUTLE No. 860,014. Specification of To all whom it may concern: A

Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. Cowan, of Newton, in the county ofMiddlesex and State of Massachusetts, havevinvented certain'new anduseful Improvements in Outlet-Boxes, of which the following is aspecilication. l

This invention has relation to outlet or wall boxes or plates, such asemployed in electrical installations and particularly for electricfixtures.

ithas for its object to provide certain improvements therein by whichthe conduit may be locked to the wall ol' the box or plaie andhehlagainst rearward dislocation, and hence to this end the invcntionconsists, as a new article oi' manufacture, ol a box or plate hav-3 ingan. aperture to receive the conduit, and a bushing which is securedagainst. removal in said aperture, and which is lormed with ay pluralityof inwardly or forwardly projecting and converging points or teeth, sothat, when a conduit is inserted into said box or plate iront the rearor outside, the points engage its exterior surface andi prevent itswithdrawal. l y

{eter-ring to the accompanying drawing,Figu re 1 represen l s a wall boxor plate embodying my invention. llig. 2 shows a por! ion oi a plasteredwall with the box removed therefrom. Fig. 3 represents an enlarged verlical section through the box and the adjacent wall. Fig. Ii showsanother iorm oi box embodying the saine invention. Fig. '5 shows,somewhat enlarged, the toothed bushing and the surrounding wall of thelfox` Fig. shows how the teeth of the bushing engages the conduit. f J

(in the drawings, a indicates an outlet boxy or plate, which may bccircular as in Figs. I and 3, square a's in Fig. fi, or which may takeany other desired form. As shown, it consi. .soi a base havingarim or[lange a/, and it may have a central threaded aperture 'a2 for afixture, and screw holes u to receive screws by which it is secured lothe wail, or else it may have ears a4 with T-BOX.

Letters Patent. g `Patented July 16, 1907.

Application tiled January 2li, 1907. vieriailio.354,230.

r i i In any event, the base or plate is formed with' apertures,preferably two or more (two only being shown) t'o receive the conduitsand their inclosed electrical conductors. f These apertures areindicated at b, and they are round or circular as shown. Inserted ineach aperture is a sleeve or bushing c (made oi brass or other suitablemetal) o-such diameter that it fits tightly therein. Each end of thebushing is flared or upset radially outward ,to forni securing fiangesl/ b which bushing against axial movement.'

The bushing is formed with a series of spring tongues b2 cut from thecylindrical wall thereof, said tongues being sharp-pointed and extendingto an inclination tothe axis of said bushing vso as to converge toward avcommon point orrenter as shown in Fig. 6. The tongues are resilient, sothat they will yield when a Figs. 3 and (i, so as not to oppose itspassage, but on a displacement.

Having thus explained the nature of the said invention and described away oi constructing and using the same, although without attempting toset forth all of the forms in which it may be made or all of the modesof its use, I declare that what I claim is `As a new article lofmanufacture, a wall box or plate v havng'un aperture, and a bushinginserted in said aperture and having' its ends secured to tl1e`rfacesofthe wail surrounding said aperture; said bushing having a plurality ofresilient tongues projecting inwardly at an inclination WILLIAM II.coLGANI Wltn esses M` n. MAY,

screw apertures rr" as illustrated in Fig. 4.

A. L. lPoLsoM.

to the 'axis of said bushing for engagement with a conduit,

bear against the surfaces oithe base and secure the conduit rl isinserted in the aperture from the left in retrograde movement of theconduit, they embed themselves in the conduit as shown in the last-men--tioned figure, and lock it securely against rearward

